Keeping in the loop

Tourists and business travellers have returned to Chicago, but the city needs to regain the confidence of corporates

- MEENA THIRUVENGADAM

On a calm summer evening, runners follow their usual route in River North, a trendy area just outside Chicago's downtown business district, their path now converging with lively restaurant patios - a welcome change from the quiet pandemic era.

Like many downtown business districts around the world, the Chicago Loop became a ghost town during the pandemic. Commuters are now trickling back into the neighbourhood while the return of international visitors has prompted the reopening of several luxury downtown hotels, with an additional 1,338 daily rooms expected to be added to the city's inventory by the end of 2023.

Leisure travellers have driven Chicago's recovery, with the city welcoming a total of 31 million (predominantly domestic) visitors in 2021, an 86 per cent increase on 2020. In a tourism update this summer, Mayor Lori Lightfoot described the turnaround as "a true testament to Chicago's resilience and strength as a top destination for tourists, businesses, and events". The city also expects to reach pre-Covid levels of 2.1 million international visitors by 2024. Lightfoot added that the tourism numbers "show that visitors throughout the United States and the world are hungry to return to our incredible city".

The optimism is, in part, attributable to the growth in bleisure, with travellers' increasing tendency to combine business and pleasure boding well for the city.

"This new climate works well for us - Chicago has so much to offer to travellers, from worldclass meeting spaces to some of the best restaurants in the world to cultural and sports experiences that could supplement a business trip, says Lynn Osmond, president and chief executive of Choose Chicago, the city's tourism agency.